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Scripture Reading: Acts 13:33; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:16-23
We have to consider one matter before God, which is the power of resurrection. This is a great subject, and we cannot cover it fully within this limited space. I only intend to point out the most central principle in resurrection. But I must state again that this cannot be explained clearly in human language, and the human mind cannot comprehend it. Human words and thoughts are useless in understanding resurrection because this matter is beyond human thoughts and words. We can only look to the Lord's Spirit to reveal this matter to us.
Even though the creation of man was good and perfect, we must understand that it did not reach God's goal because man did not have God's life. Man's creation was perfect but not complete. When God created all things, they were complete, but when He created man, His purpose was not completed. In one sense man was perfect, and the work of creation was finished. But since the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life were placed before man, we should realize that the purpose of man's creation was not yet complete. The work of creating man was finished; he was a living soul. But he still did not have the life represented by the tree of life. God finished the creation of all things, and in one sense, He also finished the creation of man. But in another sense, man had not yet reached the stage of completion. This is the difference between man and all the other creatures; after all the other creatures were created, there was no need to add anything more to them because God had no other demand on them. But God has a special purpose for man. This is why there was a need to complete another step after man was created. This step required man's initiative; he had to take in the fruit of the tree of life. Unfortunately, man took in the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the fruit of the tree of life. We must see that man's purpose in creation was not complete; God had not gained man according to His eternal plan. Even if man had not eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God's heart would still not have been satisfied. In other words, whether or not man ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he was still limited and somewhat short. Even when he reached his highest attainment, he was still short; he had not reached a point of completion that was according to God's eternal plan because he did not have God's life.
We know that in creating Adam, God collected the dust of the earth and breathed into it the breath of life, making him a living soul. But His purpose was not finished. This was not enough because man did not have God's life. Man only had the created life; he did not have the uncreated life. Man was still bound by time and space. His creation brought him to a certain point, but according to God's plan, he had not reached the stage of completion. Therefore, since the time of Adam, God has been working continuously for the purpose of gaining a man who is fully according to His plan. We see that God worked on man throughout the entire Old Testament from Genesis 3, with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, Samuel, David, and many others. The purpose of His work was to fulfill His purpose in these men. We see that these men were indeed gained by God, and God indeed completed His work through these men. As far as God's particular purpose for these men was concerned, God gained them. But as far as a man who could fulfill God's eternal purpose, they still came short. These men all stopped at a certain point. Every one of them reached a certain point and stopped. Nevertheless, the highest point that they reached was part of what a man after God's plan should have.
In the New Testament a man came, who was the Son of God Himself coming to be a man. He was the Word who became flesh. This man was the man that God had been waiting for. Man, according to God's heart, was indeed complete at that time. This man was Jesus Christ. We have to remember that Christ is the man that God has been waiting for throughout all the years. Christ is a completed man, a man who represents God, a typical man.
But it was not enough for the Lord Jesus to be such a man on earth. Even though He was different from other men on earth because He possessed God's nature and was a perfect man, He was still limited by the human limitations with respect to His power. Time could limit Him, and space could limit Him. When the four men took the paralytic to the Lord Jesus, there were too many people, and they had to remove the roof to let him down before the Lord (Mark 2:3-4). When someone wanted to touch Him, she had to press upon Him before she could touch Him (5:27-31). The Lord commended the great faith of the centurion because he said to the Lord, "Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed." He knew that he did not need to press the Lord and touch Him. He knew the unlimitedness of the Lord, and the Lord commended him that his faith was great (Matt. 8:5-10). In terms of His humanity, the expression of the Lord on earth was limited and had not yet reached the highest point according to God's view. This was with respect to His power. This does not apply to His character; in His character, He could not have been more perfect. But in the manifestation of His power, He was limited. After His death and resurrection, He reached the stage of perfection and attained the highest peak.
What is resurrection? Resurrection is for God to gain a man, a man whom He has hoped to gain from the very beginning. Our Lord was a perfect man when He was on earth, but He was limited. The man that God has been after from the foundation of the world is more than this. God wants resurrection. When the Lord Jesus resurrected, He broke all the barriers; nothing could limit Him any longer. When our Lord was living on earth, there was still the possibility of death. But after His resurrection, death could not touch Him any longer. Death was destroyed by Him, and the possibility of death was annulled by Him. After He resurrected, He told the apostle John, "I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever" (Rev. 1:18). He could die no more; the very possibility of death has been destroyed by Him. Man could no longer nail Him on the cross; there was no more possibility of death. This is resurrection. Resurrection is for God to gain, in our Lord, the man He intended to gain from eternity past! God said, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You" (Acts 13:33). This does not refer to Bethlehem, but to the resurrection. When the Lord was born in Bethlehem, God could not say this. Only after the Lord had resurrected could God say this. We have to remember that a man as perfect as the Lord Jesus in nature, character, and conduct was still limited and still needed resurrection before all the limitations could be removed. Resurrection means that a man has broken through all the barriers of man. The man whom God had sought after was gained on the day of the Lord's resurrection.
The Lord's resurrection was different from the resurrection of other men in the Bible. For example, in causing Lazarus to come out from the grave, the Lord merely brought him back to his former condition of living in the world. In other words, Lazarus was merely resuscitated; he was still wrapped in the cloth and could not move unless he was unwrapped (John 11:44). He merely recovered his physical life and became alive; he was not resurrected like the Lord Jesus. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was different from that of Lazarus. Why did Peter and John believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus? On the first day of the week, they heard the report of Mary Magdalene and ran to the tomb to see. They saw the linen cloths that were used to wrap the Lord Jesus lying there and the handkerchief that had been over His head folded up in one place. But the person was gone, and they believed (20:6-8). Lazarus was still in the cloth; the cloth was still binding his body. But the Lord was not bound by the linen cloth; nothing could bind Him any longer. Before His resurrection, the Lord was also bound by the flesh and the material world. But after His resurrection, He was not bound any longer; even the barrier of death was broken. No barrier could limit Him any longer.
A brother once said, "After resurrection, the Lord did not come; He merely appeared. He did not go away; He merely disappeared." In the past He had to come and He had to go away. But today He does not need to come or go away. Today whether or not we see the Lord is a question of revelation; if a man has the revelation, he will see. If a man does not have the revelation, he will not see. If a man has the revelation, he will touch Him; if he does not have the revelation, he will not touch Him. It is a question of whether or not we see; it is not a question of His coming or going. There is no more problem about His coming and going because the limitations are gone and our Lord has resurrected.
After the Lord was resurrected, Thomas still doubted. He said, "Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will by no means believe." But the Lord said, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing." Also He said, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:24-29). It is not a matter of touching with our hands; those who touch by faith will surely find Him. The Lord is the Lord of resurrection. The former limitations are gone. We have to touch this resurrected Lord by faith. If we believe, we will see the Lord. If we do not see the Lord, it is not because the Lord is absent but because our physical eyes cannot see Him. Space is no longer a problem, and time is no longer a problem either. The greatest restrictions placed on man are time and space, but none of these things can restrict our Lord today. The important matter is whether or not we can believe. Any time we look at the Lord with faith, we will see Him.
We can receive much help from the incident of the Lord raising up Lazarus. When Martha saw the Lord, she said, "If You had been here, my brother would not have died." The Lord said, "Your brother will rise again." What did Martha say? She said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day." She was a Jew, and the Jews believed in the resurrection in the last day. The Lord said to her again, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). In Martha's mind, resurrection was linked to the last day, but the Lord showed that as long as He is present, the question of the last day does not exist because He is the resurrection. As long as He is present, the question of time is over. Resurrection means that time is not a problem and space is not a problem. No previous limitation is a problem anymore.
Our Lord was resurrected. While the disciples were gathering together behind closed doors, the Lord came into their midst and appeared to them. He came in without opening the door (John 20:19, 26). He appeared to the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. When they recognized Him, He disappeared suddenly (Luke 24:31). This is the wonder of resurrection. He transcends over time and space. Within a second, He can travel from here to the end of the earth. He does not have to wait for three or five years to accomplish something. We do not have to pray for eight or ten years to receive something. Here is One who has transcended over time and space. This One is the resurrected Lord. The Lord was on earth for over thirty years. Humanly speaking, His wisdom and stature grew (2:52). But after His resurrection He manifested the full power of God. This power broke through the greatest barrier, death. His life transcended over time and space; His life broke through death. Therefore, our Lord is the eternal One. Man is limited by death, but our Lord is not limited by death. This is the resurrection of our Lord.
We all know that death is a great limitation. All living creatures come to their end at death. The greatest limitation to all living things, whether blades of grass or large trees, is death. A cat or a dog may follow us for three or five years; they may be very clever and useful. But they cannot live forever; their lives are limited. Once they die, they are through. The same is true with man. The foolish rich man might be very good at planning, but "God said to him, Foolish one, this night they are requiring your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be?" (Luke 12:20). Once death comes, everything is over. As long as a man is in his body, he can do many things and be very useful. But his usefulness stops at death. However, with our Lord, death no longer exists. Death has been shattered by our Lord. Death cannot hold Him. Holding is to limit, and resurrection has broken through the greatest limitation. No gate, city, or mountain can stop resurrection. No problem of yesterday, today, or tomorrow can stop Him. He is not only living, but He will not die. He not only will not die, but He has no possibility of death. He is the living one. He became dead, but He is alive, and He will live forever and ever (Rev. 1:18). In Him, all barriers have been broken.
Resurrection is the power of God. Ephesians 1:20-21 says, "Which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all...not only in this age but also in that which is to come." After the Lord resurrected, He sat on the right hand of God and was far above all things. Everything that can be named is under Him, not only in this age, but in that which is to come. In creation God did not gain the man He was after, but after the Lord's resurrection God gained such a man. God wanted to gain a created man who is the same as He is. If He cannot gain a created man who is the same as He is, He has not gained what He is after. Only the self-existing and ever-existing God is above all things. However, God wants man, who is neither self-existing nor ever-existing, to also transcend over all things. There must be one created man who is transcendent over all things before God's goal can be attained. When the Lord resurrected from the dead and was received to the right hand of the Father, He annulled all the limitations of death, as well as all other restrictions, and God gained the man that He was after.
We must see that the Lord was incarnated to be a representative man. He lived thirty three and a half years on earth as a representative, and after His resurrection He was still a representative. During His thirty or more years on earth, He was a representative of what man should be in his moral standard. In other words, He spoke forth God's demand on man's morality. After His resurrection when He appeared to the disciples for forty days, He was a representative of what God would give to man as far as power is concerned. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus was a representative of the standard man that God desires. In Him we see God's requirement on man's morality, conduct, and spiritual condition. Therefore, if the Lord Jesus had not died for us and redeemed us from sin, His living on earth would have only been a condemnation of our sins, because we have all come short of the glory of God, and He, as a man, received God's glory and fulfilled God's glory. He was a standard man. When we compare ourselves with Him, we all become sinners and have come short. When the Lord Jesus was manifested in the flesh on earth, the moral standard which He maintained became the standard for every man. When God declared, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You," it did not refer to Bethlehem, but to resurrection. It was on the day of resurrection that the Lord said to Mary Magdalene, "Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God" (John 20:17). This shows us that as sons of God, we begin from resurrection. God wants not only a moral man, but a man of power. Man cannot satisfy God by having a proper moral standard alone; there must also be great power. Since Bethlehem, the Lord Jesus never once came short of God's glory. He was the man with the highest standard of morality. But after the Lord's resurrection, when God declared, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You," He manifested another aspect of man — the man of power. At that time, there was no further problem with time and space. There was no problem with anything. The only remaining question is whether or not man sees it.
Resurrection is too deep a subject. Strictly speaking, we can only touch a little of this subject. We have to sing a song to praise our Lord's resurrection:
Thousands of years went by, and we see only men leaving;
The number who left were in tens of thousands.
It had become a law to leave and not to return;
We see no one returning.
Death has its locks, and Hades its gates;
But they are only for shutting up,
For keeping men in, and not for letting men out;
This traffic is one way only!
God's Son once passed through these gates,
Which were doubly bolted.
Though death tried its best,
He rested as ordinary men.
Since He is life, He can resurrect;
Yet He waited for three days.
He was restricted only by the Spirit,
But was not limited in power.
Hallelujah, He has resurrected!
Of all the thousands who have gone,
Only this One returned;
Only His tomb is empty.
He has once for all destroyed
The once victorious ground of death.
The sting of death has stung Him once,
And can no more attack.
Since one has returned, all will return;
He is the Firstfruit.
We who have wilted through Adam,
Are resurrected through Christ.
Hallelujah, Christ is Victor!
Never to be imprisoned again.
Hallelujah, the power of death
Is now shattered forever.
Acts 2 shows us clearly what resurrection is. It also shows us what the Holy Spirit is. Resurrection destroys the bondage of death for us. The resurrected Lord has transcended over everything. What then is the Holy Spirit? When the Lord resurrected, He was raised up by God's right hand to His side. Once He reached the right hand of the Father, He poured out the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of resurrection. The Lord put both resurrection as well as the power of resurrection in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit brings these down to earth. Therefore, we cannot separate resurrection from the Holy Spirit. Anyone who touches resurrection touches the Holy Spirit. Anyone who touches the Holy Spirit touches resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, that which was poured out from on high, which was seen and heard by men, was the Holy Spirit. What was the purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? It was to testify that the Lord has resurrected. Does the Holy Spirit testify in words only? No, everyone who touches the Holy Spirit knows that the Lord Jesus has resurrected.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, some leaned on His bosom; others received things from His hand. Some touched the hem of His garment, and some had their feet washed by the Lord. The Lord raised up the body of one person and touched the eyes of another with His spittle mixed with clay. Now the Lord Jesus has resurrected; He is now in the Holy Spirit. The Lord we see could not be seen or touched by those who saw Him when He was on earth. The Lord we see today is much deeper than the Lord they saw. The Lord we touch is the resurrected Lord. Those who knew the Lord when He was on earth could say that His wisdom and stature grew. Those who encountered Him could say that they had met Him when He was twelve or when He was thirty years of age. They could say that they knew His brothers, His parents, and His history. But the Lord we have touched has transcended all "growth." This Lord has transcended over all boundaries. Even the last boundary, death, has been broken through.
How can the church extend itself for two thousand years? It continues to exist because at various times men have seen the resurrected Lord. During the past two thousand years of church history, various people here and there were clear within; they saw the Lord within them. Concerning the outward Christ, we admit that we cannot see as clearly as the men in the Gospels; we have not seen what they saw. We do not know what the Lord was like when He was in the flesh. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the Lord today is far clearer than the men in the Gospels. Within us, we are clearer than they were. We are touching the Lord from within.
Therefore, what is the Holy Spirit doing on earth today? The Holy Spirit is conveying to us the resurrected Christ. If anyone tells me that he knows the Holy Spirit but does not know resurrection, I will say that this is impossible. This Christ has transcended over everything; He has transcended over time, space, death, and all barriers. This Christ is now in the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that raised Jesus from among the dead. The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of resurrection. Wherever the Holy Spirit works, there is the manifestation of the power of resurrection. Wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is resurrection.
Let us read Ephesians 1:22-23: "And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all." Brothers and sisters, have we seen what is the church? When the Lord Jesus was living on earth, He was a perfect man. However, He was not the Head of the church, because He was limited and the possibility of death was still upon Him. The possibility of death had not yet been shattered. If we say that He was the Head of the church at that time, then the church was limited also. After the Lord resurrected, He became the Head of the church, and the church became His Body. He has transcended over everything, and the church has also transcended over everything. It is true that the Lord was powerful when He was on the earth. If we had the power that the Lord had on earth, we would be satisfied already. But God was not satisfied; this was not enough. The Lord Jesus had to resurrect from the dead to destroy the greatest barrier, and God had to put all things under His feet and make Him the Head over all things to the church before the church could become His Body. After the Lord's resurrection, the church became His Body. The Lord Jesus has resurrected from the dead. He is now the Head of the church, and the church is now His Body. The Head and the Body are of the same nature and are the same in everything. Just as the Head has transcended over everything, the Body has transcended over everything. Just as Christ is unlimited, the church is unlimited.
Humanly speaking, we are still living in the flesh and still limited by time and space. But as far as the nature of the church is concerned, it is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It is the vessel that holds the resurrection life of Christ. Therefore, the church can experience the resurrection power of Christ. Brothers and sisters, we have to remember that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us" (2 Cor. 4:7). On one hand, we cannot deny that we are useless earthen vessels, but on the other hand, we must see that God has given us the resurrection life of Christ. Faith will bring us the experience of this resurrection power. Church history tells us that the church experiences resurrection a little here and a little there throughout its time on earth. We can say that the church is built on the foundation of resurrection. One day when the saints are raptured and their bodies are redeemed, we will fully and completely manifest the power of this resurrection.
We can consider the experience of the church in the first century. In the first century, the gospel was spread by a few Galilean fishermen. As far as their own condition was concerned, they were uneducated men of no renown, and they did not have any courage of their own. Although Peter was the strongest among the twelve disciples, on the night of the Lord's betrayal, he would only follow the Lord from a distance. In the courtyard of the High Priest, he could not pass the test of a maid's questioning, and he denied the Lord three times. This proves that he was just the same as all the other disciples, weak and fearful. But on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on them, Peter stood up with the other eleven to speak and no longer acted like a fearful and illiterate fisherman. He performed many miracles (Acts 2:43). They were persecuted, arrested, and threatened by the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees. When they were forbidden to preach about the resurrection of the Lord, they answered, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (4:20). They were so bold to speak the Lord's word that even when the ones who examined them "perceived that they were uneducated men and laymen, they marveled" (vv. 1-21). Their weakness was changed to strength because they knew the power of Christ's resurrection. They were no longer living by their natural life but were living by the power of resurrection.
While Stephen was being stoned by the crowd for the sake of the Lord's word, he had no hatred in him but cried, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). This kind of power can only come from the resurrection life.
When Paul and Silas were imprisoned in the jail, they were not disappointed and did not lose heart. They did not grieve or weep, but while they were "praying, [they] sang hymns of praise to God" (Acts 16:25). The result was that even the jailor and his household believed in God. This power was also a manifestation of the resurrection power of Christ through them.
In order to know the power of resurrection, there is the need of revelation. Therefore, we need the prayer of Ephesians 1: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him...that you may know what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the operation of the might of His strength, which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead" (vv. 17, 19). According to the original language, "might" belongs to "strength." Therefore, it is "the might of His strength"; might issues from strength. This verse tells us about the might that God operates in those who believe. This might is the might which operated in Christ in resurrecting Him from the dead. In other words, the same might which God operated in raising Christ from the dead to become free from the bondage of death and all other barriers is manifested in us who believe.
We thank God that the church has experienced this resurrection power in reality. We are regenerated through His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). When we preach the gospel to others and they receive it, the result is a fruit of resurrection. The Lord said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18). He also said, "For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst" (18:20). If two and three are harmonious concerning any matter, the power of resurrection is manifested. Therefore, any time a man experiences regeneration, spiritual edification, or the exercise of holiness, the power of resurrection is manifested (Rom. 8). In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul "labored more abundantly" (v. 10) and was able to "die daily" (v. 31) because of the presence of resurrection. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul could say of himself: "In labors more abundantly, in imprisonments more abundantly, in stripes excessively, in deaths often. Under the hands of the Jews five times I received forty stripes less one; three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep; in journeys often, in dangers of rivers,...in labor and hardship; in watchings often; in hunger and thirst; in fastings often; in cold and nakedness — apart from the things which have not been mentioned, there is this: the crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches" (vv. 23-28). What was the power that upheld him and caused him to suffer so willingly? It was the power of resurrection. Philippians 3 shows us that Paul was able to know "the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" because he knew Christ "and the power of His resurrection" (v. 10).
Among God's children, we can find many who have such experience. Some were in a prolonged illness, but through knowing the power of resurrection, they were able to lift up their head and praise God. Some encounter great pain, tribulations, and shame. According to their natural constitution, these things are beyond their power (2 Cor. 1:8), but they are able to endure all these because of the power of resurrection. As the Scripture says, "We are pressed on every side but not constricted; unable to find a way out but not utterly without a way out; persecuted but not abandoned; cast down but not destroyed" (4:8-9). All these prove one fact, "that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us" (v. 7).
We have to remember that the nature of the Body is the same as the nature of the Head. We have to go before God and ask Him to grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we will realize that resurrection power is something for us to experience and that the church should enjoy God's resurrection power. The resurrection power of Christ is already in us. We should ask God to open our eyes so that we would know the might of the strength that is within us and would be strengthened by this resurrection power. If we do this, we will not be as weak, impotent, self-loving, and self-pitying as we are today; we will be empowered in the face of sin, the devil, and the flesh and will be able to transcend over all these things. These things will not be able to entangle, affect, or restrict us any longer.
Oh, resurrection is too great a matter; it is not something that can be described with words or understood with the mind. May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant, richly grant the church a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that the church would truly know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Amen!
Finally, let us sing a hymn concerning the experience of resurrection:
Life out of death — dear Master, is it spoken
Of the life here, or in the better land?
Nay, wherefore wait? The vessel marred and broken,
Shall now be moulded by the Potter's hand.
Life out of death — oh, wondrous resurrection!
Seed sown in conscious weakness, raised in power;
Thy life lived out in days of toil and friction,
"Not I, but Christ" in me from hour to hour.
Life out of death — a pilgrim path and lonely,
Trodden by those who glory in the Cross.
They live in fellowship with "Jesus only,"
And for His sake count earthly gain but loss.
Life out of death — blest mission to be ever
Bearing the living water brimming o'er.
With life abundant from the clear, pure river,
Telling that thirsty souls need thirst no more.
The first stanza is a question. Is this life out of death something of today, or does one have to wait for the future? Based on what the writer learned and experienced, he answered: "Nay, wherefore wait? The vessel.../Shall now be moulded by the Potter's hand." This is a reference to the words of Jeremiah 18:4. The vessel was marred already. But the potter used the same clay to make another one. This is life out of death; this is resurrection. The emphasis is "here"; it is not the future or tomorrow.
Stanza two tells us how wonderful this resurrection is. "Seed sown in conscious weakness, raised in power." This is according to 1 Corinthians 15:43 which says, "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." The power of resurrection will be manifested in the body. On that day the body will be transfigured. But even today this resurrection life will be the strength of our body. "Thy life lived out in days of toil and friction." Many toils and sufferings are beyond what we can bear. If we tried to bear them, we would fail within a minute. Yet His life has sustained us. Indeed, "`Not I, but Christ' in me from hour to hour."
Stanza three includes the phrase "a pilgrim path and lonely." Following this, it says, "Trodden by those who glory in the Cross./They live in fellowship with `Jesus only.'" This is due to the fact that such a one has known the power of the Lord's resurrection. The resurrection mentioned in Philippians 3 is mentioned here.
Stanza four brings in John 7. On the last day of the feast, our Lord stood up and cried with a loud voice, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water" (vv. 37-38). This refers to the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive. The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of resurrection. Those who have experienced the Lord's resurrection should also supply others with the Lord's resurrection. This resurrection life, this abundant life, will tell thirsty souls that they need thirst no more. What a blessed commission!
If we read this hymn a few more times, it will help us to understand what this life that comes out of death is, and what resurrection is.
